Cable conveyors of the type shown generally in cable conveyor systems have been in use for decades. These cable conveyor systems use an endless loop tubular system extended to remote locations and then end up back where they started. This could be compared to, or can be similar to, a tube that is circular, for example like a hollow round hula hoop, but the tube itself usually takes a winding path (for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,938 to Klinkenberg) and the tubular system has structural differences at the corners where it makes turns. It also has other structural members attached to it, such as inlets, outlets (for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,857 to Jones), cable drive units (for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,725 to Jones), etc., all of which are well known in a general way in this art. The aforementioned patents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
For the purposes of this document, “endless loop” is defined herein as a somewhat endless track or circuit. In the case of an endless loop tubular system it starts out at one point, extends to wherever else it is designed to go, and then ends up back at that one starting point again.
These aforementioned endless loop tubular systems also have an endless loop flexible member inside with the ends thereof attached to each other to form a “circuit” within the endless loop tubular system. These endless loop flexible members are typically cables, but “endless loop flexible members” can include chains, ropes, or the like. The endless loop flexible member has inserts or discs on them such as those shown on the cables of the aforementioned U.S. patents. The endless loop tubular systems can, for example, wind through a building to have outlets wherever the user may wish to deliver the product being conveyed, there being an unlimited possibility of shapes of the endless loop tubular system and virtually an unlimited number of outlet opening locations for selectively delivering the material being conveyed to wherever desired.
One of the few problems associated with such a cable conveyor system is keeping a proper tension on the cable. If the cable has stretched/failed or become too loose, the system can fail and damage some of the parts of the system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a way to shut down a cable conveyor system when the cable has stretched/failed or become too loose.